


Beach Week, More Like Beach WHY

by Miss221b



Series: Your Friendly Neighborhood 'Verse [3]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst, Drunk John, FAMILY BEACH TRIP, Fluff, Lams - Freeform, M/M, and emotional scaring, and some, but how else would he deal with his boyfriends SHENANIGANS, gotta have both, i think my smol flower child may be an alcholic, jeffmads - Freeform, seriously, theres some, time for some bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2018-11-13 12:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11185377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss221b/pseuds/Miss221b
Summary: A mandatory team-building week for Washington's employees and their partner's at the beach; What could go wrong? Oh, is that a serious question? A lot.Modern Neighboorhood AU! This week's adventure, The squad goes on a beach trip for work! There will be  t e a m b u i l d i n g.  Jeffmads just wants their anniversary night to transpire PEACEFULLY, John gets drunk at some point every day so look for that, and Angelica has control issues.





	1. Day One, Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Neighborhood AU where everyone lives in the same neighborhood, and basically everyone or their partner works for Washington's firm. This is going to go swimmingly. Oh, and Hamilton and Jefferson live right across from each other.

“I still cannot believe this is happening,” Thomas exclaimed dramatically for the fifteenth time that morning as he slammed another bag into the back of their SUV.

            James rolled his eyes from his relaxed position in the passenger seat. His head was tilted onto his shoulder as he watched his boyfriend pack their many bags into the car.

            “I thought you _wanted_ this, babe,” he sighed affectionately, pursuing the conversation even though they had already had it _fifteen times that morning_ because Thomas was quite cute when he complained. Which worked well in James’s favor considering over half of the words out of Jefferson’s mouth were complaints. Also because when Thomas got spun up it was pretty easy for James to direct the plethora of fidgety energy towards something useful. Like packing the bags while James snuggled into his seat.

            “I _wanted_ to _escape_ to the beach with _you_ on the week of our anniversary, and stay in some ridiculously overpriced honeymoon sweet, and spend the entire time eating strawberries and sleeping in the sun and having some nice loud sexy sessions with the love of my life,” Thomas swung around purposefully, ducking his head into the driver’s side and giving James a _look_ , “ **not** stay in an old sand-infested beach house for a week with my nemesis and his pals, sharing a wall with two other couples and being forced to follow someone else’s itinerary.”

            Thomas raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, who hadn’t even opened his eyes under his sunglasses.

            “Oh, yeah, I see the distinction now,” James supplied. The light smile on his face was replaced with a yawn and he heard Thomas huff and step out of the window.

            “Shut that mouth James Madison, you are not allowed to sleep through this drive and leave me with those five heathens. You haven’t even _done anything_ today, outside of wake up two hours late and eat the rest of my cereal.”

            “It’s not your cereal anymore asshat.”

            “You wanna explain that logic to me, oh knowledgeable and lazy one?” Thomas asked from the back of the car as he lifted up another bag.

            James actually sat up and turned around in his seat to answer his boyfriend.

            “Oh look at you, playing coy about that time you signed your soul over to me.”

            “Remind me when I made that _incredible_ decision.”

            “It was somewhere between when you told me you loved me the first time and when you fucked me in that house we bought together,” he gestured loosely towards their house, which the car was parked in front of, while moving back around into his seat.

            “Do I own _your_ soul?” Thomas asked impishly, moving up the side of the car until he was leaning against James’s window.

            “No,” James answered simply and factually.

            “So I’m just whipped, is that it?” Jefferson grinned.

            “Like cream.”

            “Well, can this cream have a little sugar?” He leaned his head into the window, smiling sweetly down at James.

            “I’m all out,” Madison deadpanned, reaching over to start moving the window up.

            “What the hell, Maddy! Where did it all go?” Thomas exclaimed, feigning outrage and yelling into the closed window.

            “I packed it up,” James shouted back,” You’re going to have to wait until we get to the beach. I’m going to take a nap now.”

            Thomas’s eyes narrowed at another mention of James sleeping through the nine hour ride, and his hand shot out to grasp the door handle. Madison was faster, however, and his hand hit the lock first. They stared at each other a moment before James moved to put the window down three centimeters. Thomas narrowed his eyes even more and leaned in to here whatever his boyfriend was about to say.

            “See you in nine hours,” James smiled and rolled it back up before nestling down into his seat, tucking his hands behind his head, and shutting his eyes.

            There is a moment of silence and James could almost imagine the cute, pensive look on Thomas’s face. Finally, his boyfriend responded.

            “Okay, okay,” Thomas spoke from outside the car, his tone purposely nonchalant and the sound trailing as he moved around the car, likely towards the driver side. Where the window had been left down.

            James tried not to tense or smile when he heard the sound of a hand reaching through the window next to him and unlocking the car. It was followed by the smooth sound of Thomas sliding into the car and sitting next to him.

            “Sure you don’t wanna repent, Jemmy?”

            James just let out a fake snore. Thomas was on him in seconds, his giant hands reaching around James’s body to leverage him out of his seat and tickle him all in one. It took a moment of wrestling for Madison to figure out that he was being pulled out of the car through the driver’s door.

            “Wakey wakey eggs and bakey,” Thomas grunted when he succeeded in removing James from the car and lifted him over his shoulder.

            “Oh yeah, Thomas, this is good. This is great, really productive thing you’re doing here. If you could just drop me on the top step so I can kick you in the nuts-“

            “Kinky babe, maybe next time,” Thomas assured, making a beeline somewhere else.

            James’s eyes widened when he realized where they were heading. He made a mad scramble out of his boyfriend’s arms before they could make it over to the garden hose. Thomas turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised challengingly at James, who was standing tense, ready to run.

            “You can’t make it back to the car in time,” Thomas grinned, one hand already reaching back to where the hose lay. Thomas was a loudmouth asshole who liked to hear himself talk. James could _totally_ make it back to the car in time.

            “Bet?”

            They were moving in under a second, James spinning on his heel and dodging to the gleaming white SUV. He could hear Thomas behind him, and the rusty sound of the water being turned on and flowing. Shit. He spared a quick look behind him and immediately regretted it. He definitely could not make it to the car in time.

            That made the sudden appearance of one Alexander Hamilton, for once, a fucking miracle. When James whipped his head back around, Alex was standing a few feet in front of him, watching the exchange with judgmental confusion, as always. James wasn’t sure how he didn’t see his neighbor’s approach, but this was totally Hamilton’s fault for approaching in the first place.

            “Hamilton!” He shouted out, still barreling forward towards the other man. Alexander’s confusion grew more intense and he finally made the smart decision to sidestep out of the way. Too late though; James reached him and grabbed his shoulder, spinning himself around behind the man and ducking down.

            Madison felt no pity when he heard the hose go off and Alexander’s undignified squeal. It was immediately followed by a, “that was your fault!” on Thomas’s part.

            Hamilton didn’t say anything else, just looked down at his now soaked shirt. It was one of those cheesy Hawaiian summer ones, and James hated it. Good riddance. He stepped up and away from the man, satisfied with the conclusion to the situation. Well, maybe conclusion was too preemptive of a word, because Hamilton immediately re-directed his gaze at Thomas.

            James may have been behind the man and unable to see his face, but he had been in similar situations enough to know Hamilton’s “Jeffersin” face.

            So. The conflict was not _over_ , but it was officially out of James territory. Good. He really was feeling that nap, and he turned to walk back to the car. He startled violently when he saw John leaning against the car, one leg propped up against it. Thomas had the crazy ability to make the rest of the world seem invisible, and that had to be how James had missed the couple’s approach from across the road.

            He smiled and raised a hand in greeting. James opened his mouth to say something, but a shift and narrow of John’s eyes stopped him dead.

            “Do not involve me in this,” John spoke in warning, directing the words behind James, who stood frozen. John stood up and, with his hands raised in sarcastic placation, moved away from James.

            Madison took a deep breath and turned around.

            For the first time ever, Hamilton and Jefferson stood side to side. Both of them were staring James down, and Hamilton had the hose in his hands. It was aimed straight at James. Before he could even move, Thomas’s hand flashed up and the sound of the car locks behind him rang out.

            Shit.

            “Really?” He asked impatiently, “now is the moment you two choose to play nice?”

            Alex just raised an eyebrow noncommittally, and swiftly turned the hose on Thomas. It took less than a second to soak the man’s carefully chosen outfit, which was decidedly less cheesy than Alex’s. James was sad to see it ruined, but was pleased it wasn’t him.

            By the time Thomas lunged at Alex, the shorted man was already running forward. Curiously enough, he was running in James’s direction.

            It was all over pretty quickly really. John was the only one not completely soaked, and was therefor relegated to packing his and Hamilton’s bags into Thomas’s SUV. Aaron had also shown up at some point, but no one gave a shit. He threw his one bag into the back and grumbled to himself as he stuffed himself into the very back row.

            The seating had been planned out way ahead of time; of course it was. It took three hours to decide, which Washington had aptly predicted. The entire beach trip had been carefully planned, and every occasion for the people involved to wreck said trip had been paved over by Angelica’s carefully arranged itinerary. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about the two car maximum at the beach house, and the carpooling that would have to occur.

            If you asked James, it would definitely end in disaster. The people involved were as close to a team as they were going to get, and the mandatory teambuilding week Washington’s firm was sending them all on was bound to be counterproductive.  He still wasn’t sure how he and Thomas had gotten stuck driving The Asshole, John, Laf, Herc, and fricking Burr, while the Schular sisters were piled happily into Angie’s convertible.

            When James finally reemerged from the house, back in dry clothes, everyone else had accumulated outside.

            He was glad at least for the plus one each employee had been extended. John, Herc, and Peggy wouldn’t have been able to attend otherwise.

            Peggy was leaning back on the roof of Angelica’s car, laughing at something Laf was exclaiming about. Alex was speaking animatedly to the other two Schular sisters. Eliza was listening, enraptured, while Angelica stood to the side, arms crossed, hips cocked, looking thoroughly unimpressed with whatever the short man was peddling. John and Herc stood to the side, watching their respective lovers and laughing with each other. Burr was edged in next to them, looking out of place and bored. Still, he made some remark and John burst out laughing, which in turn very swiftly drew Alexander’s attention.

            James was struck by how happy and _fluid_ everyone looked. He felt himself relax a little, and tried to pep himself up. Maybe they could all survive this week after all?

            The door behind him flew open again, and Thomas strutted out, now dry as well.

            “Alright, bitches, pile in. I’m not waiting.” He exclaimed at the yard full of people before turning towards James, who still stood smiling softly.

            “What are you smiling at?” Thomas asked, his voice filled with mock suspicion.

            “Just-“ James gestured aimless into the yard.

            “I know, they’re awful,” Thomas agreed, but he was smiling.

            “This _week_ is going to be awful,” James chuckled.

            “You’re just now figuring this out?”

            Thomas wrapped an arm around James as they proceeded down the stairs and he spoke seriously.

            “Everything packed?”

            “Yep,” James answered, rolling his eyes. He knew exactly what Thomas was getting at.

            “Meds?”

            “ _Yes_ , Thomas.”

            “All of them? Every last one?”

            “Mmhmm,” James hummed, breaking off to walk to his side of the car.

            “Inhaler?” Thomas called over the hood.

            “Check,” James called back before slipping into the passenger seat.

            “Glovebox inhaler?”

            James just reached forward and popped the glovebox open, letting Thomas see it with his own eyes. It would be the only way the other man shut up, even if they had checked earlier. And James had _checked_. Several times. The only person more scared of James dropping dead from any variety of conditions than Thomas was James. Growing up on a plethora of anxiety, depression, epileptic and autoimmune drugs didn’t make it any less scarier.

            As he looked back and saw the men piled into their nice clean car (rip that lol), already yelling and bickering, he remembered a different type of fear.

            “God, this week is going to be awful,” he proclaimed again with a smile.

            “Preach sister!” John yelled from his seat behind Thomas, and James chuckled.

            As they pulled out, Thomas starting yelling back to the passengers.

            “Alright, some ground rules in my car people-“

            James just tucked into the seat and let his eyes slip shut. Yep. This was going to be _awful_.

           

           

           

           


	2. Day One pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h o n e s t l y everyone is my spirit animal

            In case you were wondering, the drive did not start out “harmless enough,” and definitely was not heading anywhere in that direction at any point. Thomas’s ground rules lasted a whole thirty minutes.

            It would have easily taken five if not for the constant badgering that the “backseat babies,” as Thomas labeled them very quickly, brought to the table. It had, of course, started off with Alexander, who wholeheartedly disagreed that Thomas should have the aux cord the _entire time_. This quickly evolved into a spirited debate over whether or not their driver should have it at all, considering it would take attention off of the road. James didn’t bother pointing out that screaming loudly at the backseat mirror was pretty distracting too. Stirred up by the eminent vacation, the other passengers (excluding Burr of fucking course) joined in rambunctiously, scorning Thomas’s ABBA collection as loud as they could. Finally, after almost veering off the road and seething quietly for a moment afterwards, Thomas announced that James, instead, would be the possessor of the holy aux cord.

            “James, James, James!” Hercules started the chant, but John and Laf were quick to join, hoping to pull James to the dark side. His music tastes varied greatly, from his boyfriend’s old British pop to his friends “emo sounds,” as Thomas called it.

            “What if I don’t want it?” James asked flippantly, still lounging in his seat and not involving himself in the already various conflicts.

            “ _Well then hand it over-“_ Alexander yipped, leaning forward in his seat behind James to make a grabbing motion next to his face. Thomas slapped it away before James had the chance.

            “It’s only two feet long asswipe, so unless you want your phone to live up here with Madison, you aint gonna get jack shit.”

            Hamilton leaned back in his seat with an exaggerated groan, whipping his hand over his face.

            “Listen,” John started, taking his boyfriend’s place by leaning in diagonally to James, “l i s t e n. James, you hold a great power in your hands. I know that, day after day, we are surrounded by idiots, but I know you James, I know how strong you are, my friend. My trusted buddy. I know you will not let us down.”

            John finished by smiling encouragingly and leaning back in his seat as though he had already won.

            James brought a hand up to his chin and pretended to think for a minute. He was interrupted by Thomas’s malicious grumble.

            “Yeah, well, he’s _my_ boyfriend, so good luck winning that battle.”

            “I have made my decision,” James announced immediately, “I will play a fair mixture of both ‘old people music’ and ‘teenager emo sounds’ _as soon as_ thirty minutes have passed in which there has been no bickering. And I mean **none**. Until that point, I’m going to play my nap playlist.”

            There was a grumble throughout the entire crowd, excluding Burr of fucking course because he wasn’t dumb and brought his own earbuds and tapped out a long time ago.

            Thomas was quick to accuse, “you just want to take a nap; you’re not taking this any more seriously than any of them.”

            “Time starts…now,” James proclaimed as he pulled up the stopwatch on his phone, ignoring his boyfriend.  

            “This is ridiculous,” Hamilton complained.

            “Okay, time starts now _again_.”

            Hamilton responded by giving James’s seat a light kick, to which Thomas forcefully responded.

            “ _What was rule number fucking three Hamilfuck? Don’t fucking kick my fucking seats-“_

            “ **Time starts now** ,” James interjected again, effectively cutting the argument off. Thomas shot Alexander a venomous glare through the rear-view mirror, and the shorter man shot it right back. John, who was already over the argument and ready for their vacation to really began, intercepted.

            “So, James, what is your nap playlist like?” He asked hopefully.

            James didn’t respond, he just pressed play on the first song. The sound of familiar classical music filled the car.

            “Is this…it?” John asked, his tone full of forced positivity.

            “But, when do you sing loudly?” Laf asked from the back, genuinely confused as the piano continued and failed to blend into some pop song.

            “Oh honey,” Herc sighed sympathetically, pulling Laf’s head down onto his shoulder and stroking his shoulder comfortingly while looking up at James, his puppy dog eyes in full force. James did not look back though, just closed his eyes and dozed out to the music.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 

            They were three hours into the trip when James finally switched the playlist over. He had actually managed to fall asleep and was woken up when the timer blared across the speakers. He jumped up in response, or maybe that was because Thomas had inadvertently swerved the car in surprise himself. Everyone in the back looked startled as well when James peered in the mirror. Hercules and Laf were still tangled up from where they had been napping against each other, and a sleepy looking John had a bright red spot on his cheek that matched the smudge on the window next to his face.

The only two who had not been asleep were Burr, who was playing the ancient lame-ass copy of Flappy Bird he still had on his phone, and Alexander, who was watching everyone else with a judgmentally raised eyebrow. James didn’t even have to ask to know the thirty minutes had been a tense standoff between him and Thomas. It was likely that he had spent the entire time glaring at the mirror, refusing to “let his guard down.”

“Sing loudly?” Laf murmured from the back, still half asleep. Hercules took one look at Alexander, who was still obviously very much awake and feisty, and gave up hope. He nestled his head back into his boyfriend’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, James’s phone pinged through the speakers, still connected. He looked down at the message.

_that was actually a lot more effective than i thought it would be???? – John L._

            He shot back, _stop playing suck up Laurens, I thought you were older than your boyfriend?_

John smiled down at his phone and replied, _nah im just a better actor than him_ , and then a second later, _makes it really interesting at home in the bedroom ;) ;) ;)_

            James made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat when he got the second message, and John laughed at him.

            Alexander, who had been sitting and watching the conversation take place back in forth, noted dryly, “this is very rude. My boyfriend and my friend having secret and very obvious conversations right in front of an entire car of people. It kind of feels like mine and Thomas’s bad behavior is the only type being singled out. Kinda feels like James has the power so he’s allowed to get away with more. _Kind of sound likes a monarchy_ -“

            “I’m not your friend,” James interrupted, deadpan, trying to halt the rant.

            “I second that motion,” Thomas added.

            “You don’t get to second that Tom,” James snipped back at his boyfriend.

            “Oh my, is that bickering James? Are you going to reset the timer on yourself?” Hamilton chirped sassily.

            “ _Let’s not_ ,” John exclaimed quickly, Herc and Laf chiming in in agreement.

            James and Alexander starred at each other for a moment, Hamilton’s eyebrow still raised and James’s eyes still narrowed. Finally, James responded.

            “No, because I’m a better person than you.”

            He started the music abruptly before Hamilton could respond. Whatever the shorter man had to say was drown out in ABBA’s strong guitar rifts.

            Because of course he put one of Thomas’s songs first. There’s no way to remain completely impartial here guys. He might have also lightly reached over and rubbed a hand on Thomas’s thigh when the crowd perked up to the music, winking at his man. So maybe he was really partial. Sue him. It was their anniversary this week, after all.

            Despite the “backseat babies’” aversion to Thomas’s music, they sang with reckless abandon through _Does Your Mother Know_ , starved from three hours of silence. James could have sworn he even saw Alex tap his fingers to the beat once.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 

            When James saw the sign for the McDonalds three hours out from the beach, all he had to do was nudge Thomas’s shoulder. The other man grinned down at him and switched lanes to get off the highway.

            “Our exit is about three hours south, buddy,” Hamilton called up overtop of Lafayette, who, much to John and Herc’s obvious pleasure, was raping the entirety of _Kitchen Sink_.

            “No, James needs his midday pick me up so he doesn’t turn into a handsome sweet talking monster, so our exit is here,” Thomas shot back, not even bothering to look in the mirror as he said it, but instead holding one hand out as an offering.

            James smiled at the other half of himself, and took his hand, squeezing it lightly before bringing it up for a kiss.

            “My prince charming,” he teased, and Thomas chuckled.

            Hamilton muttered something to himself but didn’t respond directly. He was easily made uncomfortable when reminded how close Thomas and James were. Honestly, the real way to shut the man up wasn’t for James to yell at him, but to crawl into Thomas’s lap and start playing with his hair.

            When they pulled up to the line behind the window, Thomas turned in his seat to face the crowd.

            “Alright, I’m buying for everyone except Alexander. You are not children, and I know for a fact that a fair majority of you spends your time fantasizing about food,” John scoffed at this, “so I expect the orders in the next ten seconds. Go.”

            Laf was quick to respond, “The biggest fries, please and thank you, with two strawberry milkshakes and plenty of mustard!”

            Hercules smiled at his boyfriend and waved off Thomas’s glance, Laf having ordered efficiently for the both of them.

 

            “Just water, please,” Burr requested because of fucking course.

            “A chicken salad, please,” John chirped with what was obviously Alexander’s order, but Thomas didn’t protest the loophole, “and some orange juice.”

            “It’s not breakfast anymore,” Hercules pointed at, smiling innocently when John turned to glare at him.

            “Honeslty, I came out to have a good time and _im feeling so attacked right now_ -“ John proclaimed, but was interrupted when Thomas pulled up to the window and leaned back.

            “Shut up.”

            John glared at Thomas’s head as it turned away, but let it go quickly when he turned and saw Alexander. The other man wasn’t doing anything; he had his phone out and was tapping at something. Still, John smiled at him and turned sideways in his seat so he could bring his feet up and put them in Hamilton’s lap. Alex’s eyes danced from his phone done at the feet, then back up at John. His lips curved up deviously as he realized John was breaking one of Thomas’s car rules, and John laughed at the expression. He wiggled his toes in his socks, and leaned over so Hamilton could kiss him.

They looked so fucking young and stupid. So careless and happy. When they pulled back John looked at Alexander like he had waited his whole day just to stick his feet in his boyfriend’s lap and kiss him, and Alex looked like he wanted to kiss each and every one of John’s toes and hold them against his beating heart. It was all in his expression.

            James shook his head and turned away, watching Thomas order at the window. It was funny how similar Hamilton and Jefferson were, especially in their expressions. He didn’t even have to think about it before Thomas turned around in his seat, glancing back at James and spitting his face into a cheesy grin when he found James already looking at him.

            “My darling, bearer of my soul, your coffee,” Thomas preached as he handed the perfectly ordered and very specific drink that James’s boyfriend had memorized. Everything sugar free and the drink more fake chocolate than coffee. This was entirely because they had decided with the help of James’s doctor years ago that coffee presented more trouble than it was worth in James’s dumb, susceptible, heavily medicated and rigorously regulated body. Thomas stopped drinking straight up coffee as soon as James did, and that was that. He still pretended, though, that James was normal enough to be allowed a “midday pick me up”; one of the many things Madison was eternally grateful for in his boyfriend.

            “They get it right?” Thomas asked casually as they pulled out of the lot, the food being distributed in the back. Nothing Thomas ever did was casual though.

            “Yep, 99% milk, 1% poison.”

            “Ah yes, an acceptable dosage,” Thomas agreed.

            There was a rustling in the back as John dislodged his orange juice from the holder, before he held it up and smiled.

            “Hello beautiful. Hold this,” he instructed Alexander, thrusting the drink into the other man’s hands. He then reached down into his shoulder bag, rooting through it for a moment before coming up with a clear bottle.

            “Hello _georgeous_ ,” John smiled even wider as he pulled it out. He grabbed his drink back from his boyfriend, popped the top off and downed a third of the orange juice before filling it back up to the top with the bottle.

            “Is that my vodka?” Alexander asked incredulously.

            “Is that an open container in my car? AKA Rule Thirty Three?” Thomas popped in, equally incredulous.

            “It’s still not breakfast,” Herc snorted from the back.

            James just raised an eyebrow and stuck his hand out. John grinned at his friend and handed over the newly-born mimosa. James took a swig and handed it back gratefully.

            “This is seriously illegal Lauren,” Alex sounded distressed, but John brushed it off at the familiar nickname.

            “Oh yeah? You going to punish me?” John asked innocently, peering over at Alex, whose eyes narrowed, “daddy?”

            James had no idea Thomas could move as fast as he did when his hand shot out to turn the music back up to top volume.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 

            “Wait, so you turned off _where_?” Angelica asked, lounging at the kitchen island, watching everyone else unpack their share of the groceries.

            “He turned onto Westway Boulevard,” Alexander supplied helpfully, stealing a strawberry from the box in John’s hands.

            “Thomas, that’s like a whole hour early,” Angelica laughed, motioning for Alex to throw her one while she continued to ridicule the tall man. Thomas sunk farther back into his perch on the opposite countertop, his arms crossed sullenly.

            “No Angie,” James corrected, “it was an hour and twenty five minutes early.”

            She laughed again, watching Thomas stick out his legs in a hapless attempt to trip James when he walked by. It was a sloppy gesture meant just to stop the shorter man in his tracks so Thomas could brood at him, but of course that backfired.

            James had long ago tuned out the conversation, and had been reading the nutrition label hopefully on the weird vegan icecream Tom had picked up. When he looked up at a flash of movement, he saw Thomas’s legs up too late and veered to the side, startled. He ran straight into Hamilton, who had managed to steal a handful of strawberries just for James to collide with them. When he looked down to see the new red stain on his shirt, he turned to Thomas accusingly.

            “Now look what you’ve done. I’ve been _wounded_ Thomas.”

            The taller man just raised an eyebrow, not yet ready to forgive his boyfriend for his role in the teasing. Also largely because he knowingly let Thomas drive down the wrong road, wanting to see how long it would take the pompous, self-proclaimed “human GPS” to figure it out. Answer? Forty five minutes.

            In response to Thomas’s…lack of a response, he turned back to Hamilton. The man was looking down at the now mushed, dripping, red sponge in his hand, a frown on his face. When his eyes flit over to where John was now guarding the rest of the strawberries from wayward hands, James made his move. His hand flashed out to grab the spongy mess from Alexander’s before he turned back around to face his moping boyfriend. He held them up threateningly.

            “You’re not being a fun vacation buddy Thomas. Don’t make me break up with you for this week.”

            The asshole just settled farther into his perch, crossing his arms tighter and cocking his head in a challenge.

            James accepted, taking the step forward to smudge strawberry down Thomas’s face before wiping his hand across the other man’s shirt.

            The room was silent for a moment. James could feel Angelica’s prim indifference, Hamilton’s judgmental brow raise, and Herc and Laf’s baited breaths. John was probably and rightly more focused on keeping the rest of the strawberries away from Alexander.

            Thomas looked down at his now messy self, rubbing a hand slowly down his face. Thoughtfully, he held his now red stained hand in front of himself, narrowing his eyes as though in thought. Finally, he turned to look back at James. His face was carefully blank when he moved.

            Thomas scooped James up in one embarrassingly easy gesture, throwing the smaller man over his shoulder. His voice was cheerful when he spoke, cutting off James’s spluttering’s,

            “All right, folks. That’s it for us tonight. I think it’s about time James and I turn in. See you all tomorrow.”

            By the time he finished speaking he had gotten to the left edge of the square living/kitchen space, where their door was located. Chuckles followed them, and something that sounded like John’s attempt at a catcall. Thomas easily shut the door behind them before tossing James on the bed.

            “You’re really letting out your inner bad boy today, aren’t you?” Thomas asked, his voice still carefully stern as he approached the bed slowly, peering down at James.

            “What can I say,” James shrugged, stretching out luxuriously on the bed and looking up through his eyelashes, “I’ve spent the whole day around a bunch of hooligans.”

            “Are you saying you’re going to be this filthy all week?” Thomas asked, holding up a strawberry red hand questioningly, a smirk tugging at the end of his lips.

            “Well honey, we are at the beach. Things are bound to get dirty,” James sat up and leaned forward, his hands flitting across Thomas’s chest, “sand getting up in all of those…little places,” he teased.

            “Mmmm, well baby,” Thomas nudged him forward to sit between James’s legs and whisper against his neck, “while we’re talking about it,” he kissed James’s neck, “try not to be allergic to the fucking sand okay? I know that’s difficult for you sometimes-“

            He broke off in a gasp as James shoved him forward off of the bed. He laughed from his new position on the floor, and when he showed no signs of stopping or getting up James started to laugh too. He nudged Thomas with his foot and was rewarded with a sharp tug, and was swiftly pulled down to the floor. Thomas had rolled slightly over though, so most of James’s impact fell on his soft chest and not the hard floor.

            “You suck,” James muttered, still laughing into Thomas’s chest as he snuggled into his boyfriend’s arms on the floor of their bedroom. They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. Thomas shifted to fully wrap his arms around his boyfriend and hummed happily.

            “Ten years of this Wednesday Jemmy,” he reminded him, soft and happy, his thoughts on their anniversary.

             “Well, it’s been ten years of _this_ ,” James elaborated, kissing Thomas chastely and nibbling on his lip before leaning back till they were laying side by side on the floor and gesturing widely towards the entire arrangement, “but it’s been a lifetime of **this**.”

            Thomas hummed again, this time in agreement. They may had only been a _couple_ couple since senior year of high school, but they had been best friends since first grade. They still were, Thomas thought to himself happily as he watched James’s eyes trace the cracks across the ceiling. The smaller man’s lips turned up when Thomas kept looking at him and he noted,

            “You smell like you did that day we went strawberry picking and you fell down the slope in the orchard.”

            Thomas chuckled to himself as he remembered the day. They were only ten years old; Thomas’s mother had adopted James into their family a long time before that. He had come along for the Jefferson Strawberry Pick as he did every year, which Thomas’s mother and aunt insisted on doing right before the start of the school year so they could make a strawberry shortcake for the boys to come home to after their first day (James came home with Thomas every day he could – his father didn’t want him at their house anyway, even if he would never be forthright about it).

            “I was just trying to impress you,” Thomas laughed as he remembered reaching up far past his own impressive height to reach the farthest bushel before losing his balance and tumbling down through the plants.

            “I know Thomas,” James chuckled softly.

            “Oh? Was I that transparent even at ten?”

            “No,” James rolled back over to face him, “when I finally found you again after tripping a billion times, the first thing you said from the ground was ‘did I impress you?’”

            Thomas laughed again, nuzzling his everything’s face.

            “I remember you saying yes to that question.”

            “Oh, I was, Tom. Impressed that you managed to fall such a short distance and get covered in so many strawberries your mom could have made ten cakes.”

            “Those cakes,” Thomas moaned just thinking about their infinite divinity.

            “Best things I’ve ever tasted,” James agreed easily, his eyes shut imagining them.

            Thomas peered at his boyfriend, musing not for the first time how sad it was that James never knew a mother to make him cakes for the first day of school, or even a lunch. His mother, a depressed alcoholic, hadn’t held much of a role in James’s life even before she died in childbirth when James was young. This thought pattern was always followed with a swell of pride in his chest to think of James within his own family, laughing with his aunt while helping to mash the strawberries, having a designated place in family game night, even celebrating his own birthday at the Jefferson’s table. Even during the time in high school Thomas spent overseas in the foreign exchange program in France, James continued to stop by and help his mother bake, something he was eternally grateful for. He knew it helped both his mother and James to cope with his absence; they came together like a family.

            Now, ten years out of their adolescence and adults by their own right, James still held a firm place in Thomas’s life, a seat at his family’s table, and an honorary mother to love him.

            “James, you make me happy,” Thomas whispered against his boyfriend’s skin.

            “I love you Tom,” was James’s sleepy but pleased response. They sat for another moment in comfortable silence before James finally moved to sit up and stretch, “but the thing is, I’d love you more if I could go to sleep next to you without getting sticky.”

            “Okay, wow, when did we make that rule? Because last night you were saying something _completely_ different, sweet cheeks.”

            James just eyed the sticky, drying streaks of strawberry all over his boyfriend.

            “ _Fine_ ,” Thomas gave in easily at the idea of cuddling up next to James and falling asleep, “I’ll take a shower. Good?”

            “Yeah, I could do with a shower,” James agreed, standing up with Thomas and smiling.

            “Oh ho there,” Thomas thought of the _small_ box shower stall in the bathroom connected to both theirs and the Hamilton/Laurens bedroom, “you aren’t looking very dirty there mister.”

            James just stepped forward to kiss Thomas sloppily, smashing their faces together so that when he pulled away there were streaks of red sugar across his face too.

            “Come on, you know you wanna lock Hamilton out of the bathroom for this,” James whispered into his ear, “wanna see if the water will outlast us?”

            Suddenly light poured into their room from the bathroom, and they caught a glance of Alexander flipping them off with a laughing John sitting on the vanity behind him before the door leading into their room was slammed shut. The shower started up soon after.

            “Well, I’m going to bed,” James announced after a moment, reaching into his bag for the sanitizing wipes he always carried with him and scrubbing his face down with them.

            “I bet we could pick the lock-“ Thomas began quickly, not wanting to let the moment slip. He was cut off by a squeal of laughter that quickly descended into a moan from the other side of the door.

            James hopped into their bed and threw a pillow over his head while Thomas’s face grew red. His mouth opened and his fist came back to slam on the door when James reminded him,

            “We _were_ about to do the same thing to them.”

            “Yeah, but we were going to do it _better_ ,” Thomas reminded him.

            “I didn’t know this was a competition?”

            “Everything with them is a competition James. We cannot let our guard down or they’ll swoop into our spot as the Power Couple”

James pretended to mull over this for a moment before sitting back up and leaning onto his arms to respond slowly, “I don’t like to lose.”

            Thomas grinned sharply and moved towards the bed, “well, anything for you baby. I don’t even need a shower to get you wet.”

            James groaned and made a face but still surged forward to meet Thomas’s lips. They kissed passionately for a moment before Thomas leaned back to moan _literally as loud as he could Jesus Christ the whole house must have heard him-_

            “ ** _Oh James, baby, yes! Just like that!_** ”

            “Goodnight Thomas.”

            “Aw come on babe. Jemmy!”

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS SO HARD TO HAVE A PLOT WITH THEM THEY ALWAYS MESS UP MY PLANS?????
> 
> hey btw i love you guys! You're comments make me so so so happy, especially after a long day at work! Any of yall stop of a Sheetz now and then? I love working there <3


	3. Wakey Wakey

            When John woke up Monday morning, the house was surprisingly quiet. What was really surprising about that scenario is that Alex was being quiet. Which was likely because he was still asleep, completely conked out, half on top of John and facing down the bed.

            Laurens hummed comfortably, peering blearily around the room for whatever woke the notoriously late sleeper. Their room was in the corner of the house facing the beach, and in the early morning light he could see the waves outside the window. He watched them for a moment, admiring how the smell of salt softly permeated the room. He had no idea what his pessimistic neighbors were thinking; this week was going to be heaven.

            Alexander shifted in his sleep, and drew John’s attention back to the situation at hand. Why was he awake again? His bare side suddenly felt cold as Alex’s shifted, and John’s face twisted.

            “ _Gross_ ,” he pronounced with fake scorn at his asleep boyfriend. He rolled to the side, the movement difficult with his _drooling_ boyfriend laying across him, but he got his point across.

            Alexander wrapped his arms tightly around John’s chest as he woke up, and he spoke a single gruff word as John wiggled.

            “ _no_ ”

            “ _Yes_ ,” John argued, moving around so he was facing Alexander, who still had his eyes closed. His face was scrunched up in adorable, half coherent frustration and his chin was damp with drool.

            Alexander tried to bring him dangerously closer to his face. John didn’t know if he was awake enough to want a kiss or just instinctually wanted to be closer to John, but it wasn’t about to happen.

            He quickly maneuvered his arms through his boyfriend’s so he could pick up the sheets puddled around them. With only seconds left to spare, he managed to bring it up between them and wrap it around Hamilton’s face.

            With that in place he leaned forward and placed a kiss against the sheet where Hamilton’s lips were.

            There was a moment of silence as Alexander was really forced to wake up and processed what was happening.

            “No?” he tried again, unable to grasp it in the end.

            John folded the sheet down so Hamilton’s bleary, blinking eyes became visible.

            “Listen baby, I get it if you want to give me hickeys, but sleep hickeys are half assed and I honestly expect better from you.”

            Hamilton’s eyes narrowed even more but swept down over John’s neck and chest, finally landing on the shiny damp spot. His own hand came up to dab at his chin under the sheet, and he finally rolled his eyes.

            “I don’t half ass _anything_ Lauren, it was just foreplay. You know I worry about how gentle I have to be with you honey,” his voice was syrupy sweet at the end and teasing. He wiped his mouth harshly against the sheet as John continued to press it against him, maintaining eye contact. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped in a well versed mock of Jefferson.

            “ _after all baby, I don’t need a shower to get you wet_.”

            The walls here were so damn thin.

            John lost it, rolling back violently onto his back and bringing his hands up to his chest as though to hold the vicious laughter back in. As Alexander pounced, he hoped to himself John would never try to hold it in; his laughter was Hamilton’s favorite sound in the world. It helped largely that it was at Jefferson’s expense.

            “ _No_ you fucker,” John shoved at him, still laughing, “if that line didn’t work for him _why_ would it work for you?”

            Alexander stopped and looked at John, appearing genuinely curious, “Because everything he does I do better?”

            “Welllll,” John drew out, looking away thoughtfully.

            “No,” Alexander insisted, “John do not-“

            “Not James,” John finished factually, with a straight face.

            Alexander dropped to the bed with a groan and John cracked a grin. He harbored no bad feelings about James and Alexander’s brief fling in high school, and _loved_ to tease Alexander about it. It was just his way of reminding the insecure man that the relationship didn’t bother him; several years later, living their own lives, John considered James to be a close friend.

John knew Alexander and James were still close, but didn’t begrudge them for it. The whole thing had happened because John had freaked when Alexander loudly declared his feelings for Laurens, his best friend, and John had harshly denied him, not yet uncomfortable with his sexuality in a suffocatingly homophobic household. Even though he was on the outside of James’s life at the time, it was blaringly obvious on his side of things that he was in love with Thomas, who had apparently disappeared to France for the foreign exchange before James could do anything about it.

            The two forlorn love birds inside Alexander and James were wounded beyond the belief of their seventeen years. A drunken night together, followed by four months of awkward, secret nights and uncertainly stolen moments provided them the comfort they needed until Thomas arrived back with his own confession and John finally was willing to seek help for his internalized self-hate. Fun times, John remarked to himself, glad that in the end they had all ended up exactly where they had needed to be.

            Apparently, according to James, where Thomas needed to be was somewhere where he didn’t know about their former ‘thing’, and that was where the tall man remained to this day. Completely oblivious to the fact that his boyfriend and his self-proclaimed nemesis did-the-do, subjectively behind his back.  

            John grimaced a little thinking about it. Thomas was literally the only one out of their group that didn’t know about it, and popular opinion was James needed to just tell him, both to get it out of the way on his own terms, and because, according to Angelica, it was a breach of Thomas’s trust to have kept it from him for _ten years_. John was inclined to believe her, but it was none of his business.

            Alexander was his business, that was all. And with that in mind he focused his mind back sharply on the matter on hand.  

            “Oh stop pouting,” John nudged him roughly with a foot, “you brought that on yourself.”

            Alexander just moaned unhappily and loudly.

            A second later there was a sharp _smack_ from the other side of the door to the bathroom, and a muffled _shut up_ that was too loud to be really muffled.

            Alexander was off the bed in a minute, moving surprisingly fast for someone who was asleep three minutes ago. He threw the door open dramatically and glared down at the shoe lying in front of it. John could see through their door that the corresponding one across from it, leading to the Jeffmads suite was open, allowing the shoe to be chucked at the door, likely from the bed.

            Before Alexander could respond into the other room with something ugly, another loud sound permeated the air. John jumped harshly in the bed at the sound of the airhorn, sounding obscenely loud despite coming from outside their door in the great room. Angelica’s voice rang out soon after, much too awake and with the usual air of command.

            “Let’s go children, the day is beginning!”

            Through the open doors John saw another shoe fly, this time hitting the outer door of the Jefferson suite into the main room.

            “Shut _up_ ,” the culprit’s voice rang out again. James’s softer, sleep filled one echoed after it.

            “Thomas you’re gonna run out of shoes at this pace.”

            Hamilton’s posture shifted as though given an idea, and he slammed and locked the bathroom door before going to slide open the window on the other side of the bed. John watched, nonplussed but curious.

            Alexander leaned out the window to the point John actually lurched forward in the bed and grabbed him. His arm reared back and he chucked Jefferson’s fancy expensive flip flop as far out onto the beach as he could. Satisfied with this resolution, Alexander turned back around and smiled down at John.

            “Breakfast?” He asked innocently. John rolled his eyes before lithely stepping out of bed and moving towards the living space.

            “I’m not telling you where the strawberries are,” he threw back as he stepped through the door and took in the scene.

            Angelica stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, hair and makeup perfect and prim. She was dressed in her usual flamboyant pink blouse and strict khakis, looking very much the team leader for a firm notoriously bad at teamwork. Peggy was sitting next to Eliza on the couch, braiding her sister’s hair and slipping beads into the beachy hair. Aaron stood in the kitchen area, brewing another pot of coffee. Hercules was hanging close by, still looking mostly asleep and disgruntled to be up. Laf was perched next to his hunched figure, speaking rapidly in French to the entire room even though only Angie, Herc, and Thomas are the only ones who can understand him when he does that.

            “Good morning,” John yawned out, smiling at the pool of lovely people sprawled across the room. He had been looking forward to this trip for weeks, and he didn’t even work under the team that was being built. Maybe that was why he could look forward to it, because Laf was the only employee that looked happy to be there too.

            James walked out of their room looking fresh faced and awake as Angelica. Thomas, who was hanging off his boyfriend’s figure despite being several inches taller, did _not_ look as awake. He peered around the room with the blurry confusion of a man dragged unwillingly from the deepest slumber, and his eyes finally landed on a spot behind John with a disgruntled eye roll. Alex must have come out of their behind him then.

            James lead the two of them over to the other couch, where Thomas immediately wrapped himself around the smaller man and tried to go back to sleep. Angie’s arms crossed tighter and her fingers twitched around the air horn.

            “Now that everyone has been so kind as to join us at the _designated time_ , its time to begin!”

            Thomas groaned into James’s shoulder childishly and loudly and Alex reached down to start removing the sandal he had just put on. James caught onto the juvenile intent and turned to stare intensely at Hamilton, one eyebrow raised. John leaned over to kick him as Angelica kept talking.

Alex hesitated, unsure how he felt about James getting caught in the cross-fire, but his mind was apparently made when Jefferson groaned again and muttered something about ‘ _a designated fucking amount of sleep_ ’.

            His hand whipped forward and the shoe went flying. James ducked, attempting to disentangle himself from Jefferson. The larger man was not having any of it though and, unaware of their predicament, tugged James back against him swiftly.

            John winced as the sandal smacked James in the chest and he reached over to punch Alex in the arm in defense of his so-far-today-innocent friend. He didn’t need to, though, because before he could turn back around and look Alexander’s shoe was flying right back at him and hit him in his face.

            James was sitting prostrate on the couch, glaring at Alex with his lips pursed. Thomas was a confused puddle around him, peering around the room in suspicion.

            Another shoe landed a moment later and everyone looked at Laf’s loafer in confusion before tracing their view back to the now half shoe-less man. He stood next to Herc, his eyes also narrowed at Alexander. Hercules had a panicked hand on his shoulder, watching Angelica with fear.

            “Leave James alone, ass,” Laf pouted out, feeling the same general sense of quaint protectiveness that they all did over the shortest and quietest one of them all (much to James bafflement and disdain).

            Before anyone else could say anything, the air horn rebounded through the room again. Angelica didn’t even have to say anything. She just stood there, her perfect eyebrow raised in emotionlessly.

            “I wasn’t hoping to put you all on a strike system the very first day but so help me God I will,” she threatened simply and everyone sat back further in their seats. When no one else said anything, she continued.

            “Okay. Today’s agenda is a busy one folks, so I hope everyone got plenty of sleep,” she eyed both Thomas and James, and John and Alexander as she said this.

            “After we make a team breakfast we’re taking the ferry to go see the aquarium. Does that sound good to everyone?”

            There is a general, pleasant, and surprised hum of agreement throughout the crowd.

            “Wonderful,” she continued, “I expect your daily reports on the day’s progress and your interpersonal relationship development by ten o’clock every night. Let’s get going people!”

            Another shoe went flying across the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a couple major plot points I'm going to try to hit in this, but I have a whole week with these guys, so if you have any activities you'd like to see them navigate through during this teambuilding week, please shout them out!!! 
> 
> OH my goodness I'm back! Wow! College is long and hard and wonderful and crazy and i have very little time to write. I'm going to make much more of an effort, though, because it is something that makes me genuinely happy. So does reading yall's comments. They really do have an incredible and powerful effect <3
> 
> For everyone following my other and Much Darker (tm) Jeffmads story Of Eros, I desperately want to get back to that too, but it requires me to be in the opposite mood as this fic haha. Soon though, I swear!

**Author's Note:**

> I love you all so much, and I hope you have a magical evening/morning/night, and HERES SOME KISSES <3 <3 <3
> 
> !!comments make my life, I love to hear from you sweet people!!


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